


The Retainer

by violet_baudelaire



Category: Justin Bieber (Musician)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-22
Updated: 2014-11-22
Packaged: 2018-02-26 13:25:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2653580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violet_baudelaire/pseuds/violet_baudelaire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Belle works as a waitress and lives in a trailer park with her stepdad, who is often drunk and violent towards her. He might not be perfect, but to Belle he's the closest person to family she has. Her stepdad owes money to a loan shark. Belle only finds this out when she meets Justin, an enforcer who works for the loan shark. Belle is forced to leave with Justin, and now she will  have to figure out a way to get her stepdad's debt paid before he is badly injured or worse, killed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Retainer

**A/N: I had this chapter written a long while ago but I didn’t like it and recently I rewrote it.**

**DISCLAIMER: This is purely a work of fiction. All recognizable characters are merely fictional interpretations of their own true amazing selves. I own nothing and no one, apart from the plot of the story.**

**WARNINGS: Some violence.**

It was just a regular day for me in the small town of Roseville. My stepdad, Ray, was passed out on the couch. The scent of beer and whisky was strong on him. I stayed quiet as I cleared up the mess he had made yesterday in his drunken rage. I knew I was in for another beating if he woke up. Everything wrong in his life, he blamed me for. It had been better when my mom had still been around. They were just as bad as each other, getting drunk and arguing with each other. Although in some strange, twisted way they were happy. Or I thought so. I knew Ray was, but mom wanted more out of life. She wanted to travel, to have fun. She didn’t want to be stuck in a trailer with her daughter and her husband. I knew mom had never wanted me. She often told me that I was an accident, that I had ruined her life. I never thought she would abandon me, though. One day she just up and left. She didn’t even leave a note. So Ray took care of me. Well, he tried the best he could for a while but he got depressed. What with mom leaving and getting fired from his job, he was not in a good place. There were only so many times that his boss could turn a blind eye to Ray showing up drunk for work. See, Ray was a mean drunk and even sober he was rarely nice. Anyway, I got a job and managed to keep us fed and clothed, with Ray in liquor. I had barely graduated high school, but it did not matter. Without Ray I would have ended up as a ward of the state. I was nineteen now. I could leave and never look back but Ray still needed me. Even though he didn’t like me much, he had still taken care of me after mom had left. That meant a lot to me. He was the closest I would ever get to having a real dad, and the only person I thought of as being part of my family.

Finally, when I had finished tidying up I checked the clock and realized I didn’t even have time for a shower before work. As it was, I would barely be able to get changed before I headed over to the diner. I sighed, quickly taking off my white tee and denim shorts before slipping into my drab peach colored dress with a white apron. Then I pulled on a fresh pair of socks before putting on my old black plimsolls. I grabbed my bag and checked I had my key.

As I crept past Ray on my way to the door I heard someone yell out Ray’s name from outside. I froze as Ray shifted in his sleep. The last thing I needed was for him to wake up. Then somebody started knocking on the door. It was not a polite knock. It was the type where they had to be really hammering on the door with a closed fist. I could see Ray beginning to stir from his sleep. My stepdad was in trouble again. I already knew it. This time felt different from the other times, though. He sprang up from the couch like it was on fire. I had never seen Ray do that before in all the years I had known him. Then there was a loud thud, and the door swung open. The lock was ruined. It was old and not sturdy but even so there had to be some force behind the kick that had broken it. There was a guy standing outside. He was around my height, with fairly short light brown hair, and intense hazel eyes. I didn’t think he was much older than me. Ray tried to run but before he could even move a few steps the mysterious guy came into our trailer and tackled him to the floor. He then started to hit Ray, punching him until Ray’s face was a bruised, bloody mess. I was sickened, and I just stood there frozen. I thought he would stop then, but he stood up and started to kick Ray who was curled up trying to protect himself from his attacker.

Then I couldn’t take it anymore. “Stop it!” I yelled, my hands clenching into fists. He looked straight at me then, and I flinched. His eyes were so cold. They pierced right through me. I was scared of him but I also hated him for what he had done to Ray. So I glared at him as fiercely as I could. He seemed to be more amused than threatened, and his lips twitched slightly like he wanted to laugh. Then he walked over to me. I was relieved he was not hurting Ray anymore. I had to fight the urge to move back when he stepped even closer to me. I did not want to be anywhere near him. He sure smelled good, though. Some kind of fancy cologne, I guessed.

“What’s your name?” He asked as he rested his hand on my shoulder.

I cringed away from his touch, a smear of Ray’s blood transferring from his hand onto my work uniform. I felt ashamed that a part of me liked the way it felt to have him touch me. He was a bad guy, but he was also undeniably attractive. “Belle.”

“Belle, huh? It suits you...” He smirked as he looked me up and down, his eyes running over me slowly like a soft caress. “I’m Justin...” His hand lazily slid down my arm and then he moved his hand to my waist.

I could feel the heat in my face and knew I was flushed pink. I stepped back, pushing his hand away from me. “Get out of here,” I demanded, although my voice was really quiet and shaky.

“Now is that the way to treat a guest in your...home? And I use the word home very loosely, babe,” He suddenly grabbed hold of my arms, and tightened his hold when I tried to pull away. “I don’t like it when people are rude to me. Usually, they know better. You don’t know me yet, so I’m gonna forgive you this time if you apologize.”

I could not believe him. I was prepared to stay silent, but then I thought again. If I annoyed him, he might go after Ray again. Also I did not think he would loosen his hold until I did what he had said, and his fingers were really digging into my skin painfully. “Fine, I’m sorry,” I reluctantly replied, not meaning it at all.

“No, you’re not. You just told me what I wanted to hear,” Justin laughed then, and let go of me. “That’s good though. You’re already learning that it’s better to do what I say.”

“Why did you beat him up?” I asked, although I knew I was not going to like what he told me.

Justin shrugged lightly. “Your old man took a loan out with my boss and he can’t keep up with the payments.”

It was worse than I had feared, and my heart sunk. My sympathy for Ray lessened slightly as I realized how much of a mess he had put us in this time. “How much do you owe them?” I leaned over Ray and shook him gently. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” I snapped at him. Usually I would never have dared to snap at him, but he was not so scary when he was lying curled up the carpet. Ray just glowered at me with one eye swollen shut and bruised. He mumbled something unintelligible and groaned. I could see he was in no fit state to talk and even if he had been he probably would have refused to tell me.

“He’s got one month to pay up. Otherwise, I’m gonna come back with one of my friends and I won’t be as nice as I was today,” Justin smiled coldly, before glancing around our trailer with barely hidden contempt on his face. “Until then, I’m gonna need a retainer. If he doesn’t pay up, I get to keep the retainer and I’ll still come back.”

“A retainer? Okay, sure. Take whatever you want and just leave us alone,” I gestured to our old TV set with the VCR slot. “That’s probably the best thing you’ll get from us, though. And I have about $200 saved up...” I sighed. “Will that put a dent in the money he owes?”

Justin shook his head slowly. “No, and I don’t want your cash or that piece of junk. There’s nothing here that’s worth anything, apart from you. So you’ve got five minutes to pack. And then we’re out of here.”

“What?” I stared at him in absolute shock. “You can’t be serious. I’m a human being, not a piece of property!” I exclaimed angrily, and then I crossed my arms. “I’m not leaving,” I stated firmly. “You’ll have to drag me out of here first.”

“Don’t think I won’t, Belle,” Justin warned, a look of annoyance crossing his face briefly before his focus shifted to Ray. He observed him indifferently before pulling out a gun he had concealed under his jacket and in the waistband at the back of his jeans. “You know, I could just kill him now. It would save me the trouble of coming back. One bullet between the eyes, and he won’t feel anything. Unless I change my aim. I could shoot him in the stomach, let him bleed out. There are just so many options, Belle. Maybe I should let you decide, since you’re his daughter. Where do you think I should shoot him first?”

“You’re a monster...” I spoke quietly; horrified by the casual way he was discussing murdering my stepdad. Looking at him, I knew that he would follow through on his threat if I did not comply with him and it would not affect him at all. “Alright, I’ll do what you want,” I felt a bitter sense of defeat as I went to get my duffle bag and started shoving some of my clothes inside. I was desperately trying not to cry and I felt like it was getting harder to breathe. The situation was too surreal and horrible for me to fully take it in.

Justin checked his watch after putting his gun away. “Now you’ve only got three minutes.”

I stayed silent, although I wanted to protest at the fact that he had just knocked two minutes off what was already an unfairly short amount of time to pack. Luckily I didn’t have a large amount of clothes so I was able to fit everything else into the duffle bag that I wanted to take with me. The last thing I put into the bag was a photo of me with my mom and Ray, before everything went so wrong in our little family. The last time I had used the duffle bag was for a short road trip with some of my friends. I had nothing but happy memories from that trip, but this time would be different. I did not want to leave my home with a dangerous guy who was practically a stranger.

“Time’s up, we’re leaving,” Justin announced, taking the duffle bag from me. With his free hand he took hold of my arm and started marching me to the entrance of the trailer.

“Wait, wait...At least let me say goodbye,” I pleaded, leaning my weight back and trying to keep my feet planted firmly on the floor. It barely made him slow down, the resistance from my slender frame not a match for his strong, lean build.

“We have to keep moving. Unlike your deadbeat old man, I’ve got places I need to be,” Justin replied, yanking hard on my arm which caused me to stumble forward and fall onto the ground outside the trailer.

I scraped my knee and one of my hands against the hard sun baked soil. It stung, and I glared up at Justin hatefully but I stayed silent.

Justin sighed heavily, frowning as he pulled me up onto my feet again. “That was your own fault, Belle.” It was not a long walk before we stopped at a shiny black car with tinted windows which looked totally out of place in the trailer park. I heard a beeping noise, then the doors unlocked. Justin threw the duffle bag into the trunk of his car before slamming it shut. He pushed me into the back of the car before he got into the driver’s seat and started up the ignition with his key. He locked all the doors automatically with one press of a button, giving me a hard stare in the rear view mirror before driving away from the place he had parked. Even if I had wanted to escape, it would have been pretty stupid for me to try once the car was moving and besides there was Ray to consider. So I just took a deep breath and put my seatbelt on, before looking out of the window so I did not have to look in Justin’s direction. I looked back as the trailer park got smaller until finally it had disappeared from my view and I could not stop the tears from falling then.

**Thanks for reading :)**


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